Detroit To Host U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 2019

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., — U.S. Figure Skating selected
Detroit, Mich., as the host city for the 2019 U.S. Figure Skating Championships
at the newly opened Little Caesars Arena where champions will be crowned in
ladies, men’s, pairs and ice dance at the senior, junior, novice, intermediate
and juvenile levels.

The U.S. Championships are the final qualifying event for
the U.S. World Figure Skating Team and the U.S. Olympic Team every four years.
The Championships attract more than 1,700 athletes, coaches, officials and
media each year to the host community and the 2019 event is expected to
generate more than $18 million in local economic impact.

“U.S. Figure Skating is excited for the return of the U.S.
Championships to Detroit for the first time since 1994,” said U.S. Figure
Skating president Sam Auxier. “Detroit and Michigan is a skating hotbed that is
home to many of our top athletes, both past and present. Detroit, highlighted
by the newly opened Little Caesars Arena and downtown redevelopment, will be a
great host to our athletes, coaches, officials and fans from around the
country. It will be a wonderful event in one of the great, new venues in our
country.”

The U.S. Championships is considered the most prestigious
figure skating event in the nation and it has been held since 1914. The last
time Detroit hosted the event was in 1994 at Joe Louis Arena.

U.S. Figure Skating will plan the 2019 U.S. Championships
with support from the Detroit Sports Commission, 313 Presents and the Detroit
Skating Club.

“Suburban Detroit is the epicenter for world-class figure
skating, so we feel the nation’s most prestigious figure skating event is
coming home,” said Kris Smith, director of the Detroit Sports Commission. “The
Metro Detroit community is primed and ready to showcase our great destination,
while raising the bar like we always do to make this the best championship
experience yet.”

Host cities for the qualifying rounds of competition made up
from nine regional championships and three sectional championships will be held
in October 2018 in Sherwood, Ore., Coral Springs, Fla, Peoria, Ill., Vacaville,
Calif., Boston, Plano, Texas, Ann Arbor, Mich., Lake Placid, N.Y., and Anaheim,
Calif. Sectionals are scheduled for November 13-17, 2018 in Wake Forest, N.C.,
Fort Wayne, Ind., and Salt Lake City. The 2019 Synchronized Skating Qualifying
Season is set for Worcester, Mass., Kalamazoo, Mich., and Plymouth, Mich.

Tickets will be available in early 201 for the U.S. Figure
Skating Championships. For more information, visit www.usfigureskating.org.